Cuban reaction to Raúl Castro's indictment

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]US prosecutors have officially indicted former Cuban president Raul Castro. He and five others are now charged in connection with the Cuban military's fatal downing of two civilian planes 30 years ago. What you're seeing now is CBS News is actual coverage of that incident back on February 25th of 1996.

[00:00:19]>> Wow. Now, it's not clear if the 94-year-old Castro will ever stand trial since Cuba does not extradite people to the United States. Uh the Cuban government previously denied any wrongdoing. And Cuba's current president is condemning the indictment as a political stunt. So, what does this all really mean? Roxana Vigil can shed some light on that. She's an international affairs fellow in national security at the Council on Foreign Relations and joins us from Washington. Roxana, good morning. Um we've seen >> um in our past hour some Cuban-Americans celebrating this, but I'm curious about how people on the island of Cuba are reacting and if they really are um buying the US case that this is about this 30-year-old incident or if it's really about pressure to get the current regime to to buckle. What's the local response been?

[00:01:08]Yeah, I mean, you mentioned the response from the government and I think among the people, they are focused on their day-to-day survival in the worst energy crisis that Cuba has seen ever. Uh the Cuban economy has been in crisis for a while, but this oil embargo imposed by the Trump administration has really sent the humanitarian crisis in Cuba to the next level and we're seeing um the Cuban people struggle day-to-day on how to how to overcome that. This latest indictment, I think part of the reaction in Cuba is a sign of further pressure to come, potential sign of a US military operation like what we saw in Venezuela. So, I think there is it's very tense on the island right now. So, you know, it's been years since Raul and Fidel Castro were officially in power.

[00:02:00]Can you just take us back for a minute, remind us what life was like under Castro rule and whether that's changed?

[00:02:07]So, the like I mentioned the the Cuban economy has been in crisis for a while because it's been highly dependent on other countries. During the Cold War, it depended on the Soviet Union. Once the Soviet Union fell, it turned to Venezuela, which provided Cuba with cheap oil. What happened on January 3rd after the US intervention in Venezuela that removed Nicolas Maduro, you saw the oil that was flowing to Cuba, about 60% of Cuba's oil stopped. And then you saw the oil blockade come in. So, it it's created an energy crisis that wasn't there before, but the Cuban economy has been struggling and had been dependent on other countries for a long time. What is your expectation of what might happen next? I know it's impossible to predict, but based on what you know and what the sidelines are.

[00:02:57]Um I mean, this looks very similar to what we saw in Venezuela. You have a ratcheting up of pressure starting with of course the oil blockade in January.

[00:03:07]Then you have the CIA director going to visit to deliver messages from the Trump administration. Of course you have the indictment yesterday and just yesterday you have the air an aircraft carrier arrive in the Caribbean Sea. All these are carefully orchestrated moves to increase pressure on the regime as the Trump administration tries to negotiate something. Um if the negotiations fall apart like they did in the Venezuela case, I think you are more likely than not see some type of military action. And that can take many routes. I would imagine the Trump administration wants a Venezuela model type solution here, which would include finding a Delcy Rodriguez, who's the number two of Maduro, the Venezuelan and who would be able to work with the United States. I'm not sure that that person exists in Cuba. It's a totally different regime, totally different situation.

[00:04:00]Um if if Trump can find someone to work with in Cuba, I think it would be really hard to sell it here in the United States to the Cuban American diaspora that has um for a long time said there is no negotiating with the Communist Party in in Cuba. Yeah, and I just want to Roxana, before we let you go, what a successful successor would look like in Cuba? What do Cubans there need?

[00:04:26]The Cubans need a government that will listen to them. The Cubans have for a long time been trying to make changes that improve their lives.

[00:04:36]Um and they need a government that they can work with and that will listen to them.

[00:04:40]And ideally that would include a transition to democracy. That is the the best way to be able to have a government that is beholden to the people. Um and I think eventually the Cuban people will achieve that. It's just a matter of is it going to be through uh a violent military intervention from the United States or is it going to be through supporting the Cuban people to achieve that in some other way?

[00:05:04]Yeah, some some great insight there Roxana Villal, thank you.